"The central doctrine of Christianity, then, is not that God is a bastard. It is, in the words of the late Dominican theologian Herbert McCabe, that if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you."--Terry Eagleton

"It is impossible for me to say in my book one word about all that music has meant in my life. How then can I hope to be understood?--Ludwig Wittgenstein

“The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice."--Bryan Stevenson

The "100 days" ends on Friday (or Saturday, or Sunday, or next week, I really haven't counted) and the government hits the debt ceiling that day, too. So Mick Mulvaney, who apparently slept through the last two months and doesn't understand the legislative process any better than his boss, thinks Congress can walk, chew gum, dance a jig, and recite the Gettysburg Address all at the same time. And pass a continuing resolution to fund the government a bit longer (how long? A week? a month? Six months?) and reform healthcare (because we don't need committees and hearings and a legislative process, we just need a "bill" and a "vote"!) by Friday.

Trump needs an accomplishment!

Oh, and if the Dems don't agree to pony up at least $1 billion for the "border wall," Trump will shut down the government. Given that the President's approval numbers are still under water, and that he's proven a tower of Jell-O in negotiations (anybody remember who pulled the last attempt at healthcare reform off the floor of the House at the last minute?), Congress trembles in fear. Well, except for: the Democrats; every Congressperson in the four border states (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California), including four GOP senators. Trump can't get that border wall through the House, much less through the Senate. And he has all the clout of a wet noodle, anyway, so his efforts to get it passed amount to the demand "VOTE NOW!"

Because he has no clue how the legislative process works.

Honestly, this isn't even a clown show anymore. This is just children in a sandbox pretending to be adults. And of course the last redoubt is Trump's decision to pull the plug the last time: he didn't really want that bill passed anyway. Sort of like AG Session's claim this morning that he was just kidding about that "island in the Pacific" stuff. Except he wasn't, because he reiterated his complain that "one judge out of 700" could thwart the will of the President, as if the only purpose of our legal system is to stand behind the POTUS and genuflect in the direction of D.C.

Well, when the POTUS is an extreme right wing Republican. Otherwise: states rights!